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About Copper Cent Hoarding
Hoarding copper cents is easy and fun to do, but hoarders have to keep in mind the basic principles and objects for starting or continuing the hobby. This article details what you need to look for, what you can get rid of, the do's and don't's, why you should hoard pre-1982 copper cents, and what banks you should buy or dump your coins at. Pre-1982 U.S. Copper Cents In 1982, the U.S. Mint changed the composition of the one cent coin from 95% copper and 5% zinc to 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. The price of copper had risen to make the copper content of a 95% copper cent worth more than it's face value. The newer, predominantly zinc cents cost less to produce, while still serving the purpose of a cent. Today, these copper cents are subject to hoarding and eventually selling for a profit. Coinflation.com has the value of these copper cents at around 2.2 cents each, depending on the price of copper. While most people can't sell these cents for 2.2 cents right now, they can still get somewhere around 1.5 cents per coin. Eventually, after inflation drives the price of copper up and copper cents get almost completely taken out of circulation, the value might increase and allow hoarders to sell their coins for a larger profit. The reason copper cents are hoarded is not only from an investment standpoint or as an inflation hedge, but also because it is fun and satisfies hoarders' coin collecting cravings. What You Can Get Rid Of Hoarders don't need to keep everything they find in penny rolls. The post-1982 predominantly zinc cents can be cashed in at a separate bank, and the paper money used to buy more rolls of pennies. These cents have a metal value of under one cent a piece and are not worth saving. However, hoarders must know that the banks you use to dump the zinc cents should not be used to also purchase unsearched rolls. This applies for the banks where hoarders return rolled coin but it will not matter if they dump these at banks with coin counters, as the bags of pennies collected in the machine will be shipped off from the bank every week. What Other Coins Do I Look For in Penny Rolls? Pre-1982 Copper cents are not the only coins to pull out of circulation from rolls of pennies. In fact, you can sometimes find coins of greater and often much greater value than copper cents. Examples are, Wheat Cents, Indian Head Cents, dimes, Steel cents, foreign cents, and error cents. Wheat Cents The most common other coin to save that can be found in penny rolls are the Wheat Cents, also called Wheat-Back Cents and Wheat-Ears Cents. These were minted from 1909-1958 and have collector value depending on date, mint mark, rarity, and condition. An common Wheat Penny, such as a 1956-D or a 1957, will not have more than just a few cents in collector value, but a 1914-D or a 1909-S VDB will have hundreds of dollars in collector value. These probably will not appear in rolls of pennies that you can buy, but semi-rare ones might. Indian Head Cents Indian Head Cents are not very common in rolls of pennies. An average for finding these would be maybe one in every 50,000 pennies or even more. This may vary, and it quite often could mean the average could be one in over 100,000 cents. The value of Indians can range from $1.50 to $2.00 for common dates and tens or hundreds of dollars for rare or semi-rare ones. Dimes Dimes can sometimes be found in rolls of pennies. It is difficult to determine the average for finding these, but it is nothing uncommon. Occasionally, the coin counting machines accidentally count a dime as a cent, and it eventually ends up in a penny roll. With customer-wrapped rolls, it's often that the customer sees a dime that may look like a cent if it's covered in orange grime, or otherwise cent-resembling. Hoarders enjoy finding dimes because it makes up for any cents that they may have been shorted with or without knowing it. 1943 Steel Cents In 1943, the U.S. Mint began producing cents out of zinc coated steel, because bronze was being used in the war effort. These 1943-only coins are not very common in circulation for two reasons: Coin counters trap these with magnets and reject them, and when people do see them, even if they aren't collectors, it comes obvious to them that these coins might be collectible. The chance of finding in circulation one is probably equivalent to finding an Indian Head Cent or even harder. In 1943, Steel Cents were the only cents officially produced. However, there were 14 bronze varieties that were accidentally made that year. These are all in possession of collectors and are worth tens of thousands of dollars, so if you find one in circulation, it's probably a counterfeit. One way to tell if it is real is to use a magnet on the coin. If the coin sticks to the magnet, it is a copper coated steel cent, because many of the fakes were coated in copper to look like a bronze 1943 cent. Foreign Cents Foreign cents are not necessarily of any real value like Wheat Cents or Indian Head Cents, but they may appeal to certain collectors. The most common foreign coins to find for hoarders in America are Canadian Cents, and vice versa. These can be especially found for hoarders who are near or at the border. In places farther from the border, these can still be found, but much less common. The Canadian pre-1997 cents are predominantly copper and can be hoarded just like U.S. pre-1982 copper cents. It is a hoarder's choice what he/she wants to do with the post-1997 Canadian Cents. Other foreign cents to be found are ones from Mexico, various Caribbean Islands like the Bahamas, European nations, and more. Error Cents Another interesting type of coin to find is an error cent. There are many types of errors that could be found in rolls of pennies, because not all are the same. Many errors that are found are blank planchet cents, zinc cents that were accidentally not coated in copper, off-centered cents, doubled-dies, brockage, wide AM's, and more. The value of these coins can vary from a few dollars or cents to several hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The error that tends to be worth the most are doubled-die cents, like the 1955-D doubled die cent. Many hoarders either send these off to be graded professionally or just simply consult their local coin dealer. The Do's and Don't's The Do's: *Pull out any U.S. copper cent, Wheat Cent, Indian Head Cent, Foreign cent, error cent, dimes, Steel Cents, silver coins, or other coins that could be found in rolled coin. *Dump zinc cents at banks different from your pick-up bank(s). *Develop a friendly relationship with your banks and tellers, and open accounts at ones you wish to purchase or dump coins at. The Don't's: *VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT MELT U.S. COPPER CENTS. This is illegal and punishable with a hefty fine and jail time. *VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT EXPORT MORE THAN $5 IN CENTS OUT OF THE U.S. This is also illegal and punishable. *Don't put the Pre-1982 Copper Cents back into circulation. Keep them, just don't melt them. Buying and Dumping The amount of cents that hoarders purchase varies depending on what scale a sorter they are. If they sort large amounts of cents, then they will probably get 4 or more boxes of pennies a trip, and if they are a smaller scale sorter, then they will buy a box or less and maybe even just some loose rolls. Here are some statistics that new hoarders must know about before buying cents: $25 Boxes of Pennies: Most banks sell bulk amounts of cents in boxes of 2,500 cents. $50 Bags of Pennies: Some banks might sell hoarders bags of 5,000 cents that come off the bank's coin counter. $0.50 Rolls of Pennies: A roll of pennies will cost 50 cents. An important thing for hoarders to remember is if you dump your zinc cents into a coin counter bag, do not later buy bags from that bank because you risk receiving your zinc ones again. If long enough time passes since your dump there (at least two weeks), and you're comfortable that the armored car service has picked the bags up already, then you are safe to buy pennies there. With boxes, it doesn't matter quite as much because boxes come straight from the Fed. If you returned customer wrapped rolls to a bank, then do not buy there with risk of receiving these again. Many hoarders keep a list of their buy and dump banks so they never get confused or unsure if one bank is either a buy or dump bank. Also see About Dumping Zinc Cents for more information on dumping your zinc cents.